In our ongoing efforts to explore and replicate historical humanities computing (where we take replicate to be about interpreting rather than reproducing), Geoffrey Rockwell and I have been experimenting with punch cards; how they worked and how they were used. We’ve created a very simple emulator below. Punch cards were used for data storage...

In early June I decided that I would break with some 15 years of tradition and get a Windows machine. Most people who know my computing preferences were rather shocked by this turn (or betrayal as some called it), and a few were intrigued....

It’s a pleasure to announce the availability of our new book Hermeneutica, Computer-Assisted Interpretation in the Humanities (co-authored with Geoffrey Rockwell), available from MIT Press and elsewhere. We’re especially proud of the nature of this collaboration, writing a monograph in parallel with the development of Voyant...

Bio

I am an Associate Professor of Digital Humanities at McGill University and Directory of the McGill Centre for Digital Humanities. My primary area of research is in the design, development, usage and theorization of tools for the digital humanities, especially for text analysis and visualization. I have led or contributed significantly to projects such as Voyant Tools, the Text Analysis Portal for Research (TAPoR), the MONK Project, the Simulated Environment for Theatre, the Mandala Browser, and BonPatron. In additional to my work developing sophisticated scholarly tools, I have numerous publications related to research and teaching in the Digital Humanities, including Hermeneutica:
Computer-Assisted Interpretation in the Humanities, with Geoffrey Rockwell (MIT 2016), and Visual Interface Design for Digital Cultural Heritage, with Stan Ruecker and Milena Radzikowska (Ashgate 2011).

Other professional activities include serving as an editor of Digital Humanities Quarterly (Digital Humanities Quarterly). Prior to moving to McGill University, I was Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia at McMaster University from 2004 to 2011, where I was also Director of the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship. Before joining McMaster University, I was at the University of Alberta where I was co-responsible for the creation and development of the M.A. in Humanities Computing programme from 2001 to 2004. My Ph.D. in French Literature is from Queen's University (2000), my M.A. in French literature is from the University of Victoria (1995), and my honours B.A. in French is from the University of British Columbia (1994).